The Crooks Chronicles

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

After a fun morning Saturday we packed up and headed out for Arnold, California where Ryan's family owns a cabin.

We made the traditional stops along the way, Taco Bell for lunch and Thrifty's ice cream (from Rite-Aid since Thrifty's is no longer around). Ryan went for the usual triple scoop. Tyler and I shared a double. An hour and a half later- we had made it to the cabin.

One of our first stops was White Pines lake. There was a cute little swing set to play on and a beautiful lake to look at...not to swim in. Ryan used to come to this lake when he was really little with his Popa and go fishing. As the story goes, they would wake up before the sun, get donuts and chocolate milk, and set up camp on the shore. Ryan was remembering how long the walk used to seem (it is only about 5 minutes) as a little boy. Sounds like he and Popa had fishing down to a science. It really is a shame that the reeds are taking over so you can hardly fish from the shore anymore.

We spent three of our days at the Stanislaus river. It is in Calavaras Big Trees State Park. The scenery is beautiful...the drive is a bit too twisty for my tummy, but the trees and the river are a beautfiul sight for Nevada eyes! The shades of green, the clearness of the water, the sound of the rapids (little rapids), it really was relaxing. Tyler surprised us all and LOVED the water, eventhough it was pretty cold. Ryan took him down to put in his feet and he went right in up to his neck! Tyler has surprised us all and has become quite fond of water in every form.

River days usually lasted long enough that our little guy would need a nap down there. He did pretty well. I would hold him until he fell asleep and then we'd stick him in a little one-man boat so he could relax. Unfortunately we usually had company right after I put Tyler down so he'd wake right back up!

Another adventure we had was walking through the Grove. The grove is a walkway that takes you through a bunch of the "big trees". There are a few noteable spots; the stump that is so big it used to have a dance hall on it, and our traditional picture in the hole in the tree shot. Tyler loved looking up through the trees to the blue sky. There were also a fair number of furry friends around that made Tyler giggle. The squirrles were quite friendly and didn't seem to mind humans at all.

Our nights were spent watching movies and playing UNO as a family. Tyler did great adjusting and loved being outside- especially in the 5am hour! It was so nice to be somewhere so quiet and beautiful and just enjoy being together as a family.

The trip home was quick and painless. We had fun stopping at a park in Murphy's and having an early lunch at COSTCO. Tyler seems to be back on schedule and enjoying his vacation thouroughly! The past few days at the cabin Tyler has still been working on his walking and is getting good enough to grab a hand and demand to go somewhere. He is getting pretty good at saying "go" and "one" as in "one, two, three..weee!" (Granny and I will swing him as we walk)
We are looking forward to a lot more fun until we have to leave this Sunday. Stay tuned!

We're Alive!!

Yup- we're still here. Just got back from the cabin in Arnold. Be excited pictures and video will follow shortly :)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Walking

The House

Update as of 7/10/08...still on schedule to close on the 31st!

New excitement includes...the granite is in the kitchen, the walkway and driveway are done, the tile in the entryway is done, and the front yard is landscaped! Enjoy the pics.

We'll be out of commission for a few days. We are off to enjoy the beautiful scenery in Arnold, CA at the family cabin!

Our Adventures...Lately

We started off this week with an extreme heat warning- which, for those of you not familiar with crazy hotness, means that it is over 111 for some number of hours. To avoid the heat we headed to the mall with the kiddies to play and walk around. Tyler and the kids had a blast playing around this slide/tunnel thing.

Our big adventure started Friday afternoon. We picked up Ry from work and headed to the airport. We were expecting to eat dinner together and head off to Sacramento...but the flight was delayed. So, what do you do when you have THREE HOURS in an airport with a little boy???? Teach him to walk, of course!!(So I'm on the cell phone in this video and it isn't the right one...but you get the idea. I'll post the better one later)

After a delicious $20 Burger King experience we went to go relax our little feet- and then he was off! Ty has taken some steps here and there but this was amazing! He walked about 25 feet over to this water fountain and loved his independence and new found freedom.

Thank goodness for a happy (and tired) kiddo. He entertained himself the entire time we were waiting for the plane. He also got to do some shoe shining, play some slots, and watch the planes land and take off.

We made it to Sacramento safely...at about 10:30pm. Tyler spent a good night sleeping and got spoiled rotten with tons of belated birthday gifts this morning. The cutest moment by far was when he let us put on his new back pack and walked around with it on!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Fun with Family

My cousin Heidi and her kids came to visit on their way through town. They were headed from Wyoming to California. We had so much fun getting to see our family. Heidi has two (and a half) kids and it was so much fun to have some more energy in the house. Tyler really enjoyed having other kids around to play with.

Today we showed Heidi and Heather the new house for the first time and then we took all 8 of us...in one car... to the water park at Mountain's Edge. Brittny and her two girls were able to meet us too. The water park is really just a splash pad thing but it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. The kids love to sit on the fountains, try to guess which one will turn on next, and almost always get sprayed right in the face when they are wrong! Tyler loves the water and is starting to take multiple steps more often...finally.